Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Gen Why - Modern Punk Rock Demanding Answers

Why did you pick your band name? How did you form?

There are several reasons the name "Gen Why" aka
"Generation Why" became what it is. At first it was the latter,
"Generation Why". I sat there thinking up band names, writing down
anything that came to mind... thought about our generation, millennials... and
how ridiculous we can be, and not only that but how great of a generation it
can also be. Hence, the WHY. We question everything. We don't trust in the
system as much as generations passed... and alternatively, some of my own
generation annoy me as well..so again WHY! (Why you act so ridiculous?!) Also,
a song by the band Fidlar - Why Generation helped me along with this thought.
Thanks guys for the inspiration! (Do we get free tickets to your shows now?)

As per how we formed well, mainly through craigslist funny
enough! Needed a drummer and one of my friends helped us out there, sent me a
link to a craiglist ad Bryan had posted looking for a band and well, here he
is. Alex, well me and him worked with each other before in another band so he
was obvious, Curtis (guitar) was craigslist as well. Now we have Dave on Bass
and we found him at shows and through people talking about his skill on the
bass guitar, so we have undergone a bit of a lineup change recently, but we're
still moving along!

Will you continue releasing music on your own or do you plan
on working with a record label?

For the time being, we plan on doing everything we can as
DIY as possible! We book our own shows with people, make (alot) of our own
merch, and we even record on our own thanks to Curtis and his skills at audio
engineering! In the future when we play more and longer tours and want to
release more albums, and have them distributed to record shops in other places,
we may consider talking to a label for a bit of help. However, for now, it's
all DIY! We still get down and dirty.

To me, in your music, I hear that classic street punk vibe
mixed with a modern sound. How do you describe your music to people?

We would describe our music, particularly when asked what
type of music we play as Street Punk of course, sometimes Hardcore Punk as
well, because I know that is definitely involved with our sound. The modern
sound you're hearing is more likely coming from our collective interests in
music combined, which sometimes is more than just punk even. I'd say it's a
healthy mix of both classic and modern punk rock, not even just street. No one
likes a singular label, but for the sake of knowing what sort of sound people
are about to hear, sometimes it's needed. Also most of our major influences are
all 2000s era Street Punk bands from Texas.
What we grew up on.

What image do you think your music conveys?

This is an interesting question, and it's one I sometimes
think to myself even. As the performers and writers of this music, we may have
a different image in mind than what the listener has. For instance, how you see
yourself, isn't exactly how other people may see you...and that's not a bad
thing. Personally, I'd like to think the general tone and image we convey is
that of the modern youth struggle. Anxiety. Depression. Alcoholism.
Frustrations with our political system and the "leaders" within it. A
good portion of our music is politically driven, but not so much so that it's
straight up cliche and over done, much more of it is about struggle and pain,
but we also focus on the scene...unity, friends, fun, and ways to overcome the
stress and anxiety that modern day America loves to throw at us. You know. The
life of a punk in the 2010s. It's our story.

Your band has gotten a good reputation in the live arena.
How do you rate your live performance ability?

This question intimidates me and only because I try to stay
away from sounding arrogant. However, we do have alot of faith in ourselves and
as a band, we click very well. I believe our success in our live shows lies in
that. Having such strong bonds between us. I will say this, we don't want to be
that band that sounds better recorded than live. We strive to provide the best
show we possibly can for the crowd, so they can feel the raw energy and emotion
behind each of our songs.

The recording industry is constantly changing. Currently,
lots of people prefer listening to streaming music. However others still prefer
tangible music such as vinyl and CD. What are your thoughts?

I've always been an analog guy myself...I still fumble
around with CD cases in my car when I go anywhere, and I have a bit of a vinyl
collection as well! However, because so many people do love streaming as well,
we understand that we should provide our music to anyone who would like to hear
us, whether it be CDs and Vinyl or digital. It would be difficult as a band in
2018 to not have their music online for streaming purposes, and we want
everyone to be able to hear us!

Anything you would like share, from new merch to upcoming
shows/tours or songs/albums?

Yes actually we have alot going on, we generally do! We have
a few upcoming shows in June, notably with Gutter Villain at La Playa on June
1, Hub City Stompers at Big Top Lounge on June 9th, and FYWROK in Tulsa with A
Global Threat, The Exploited, Complete Control and many....many....many...more.
I'd recommend checking that out for sure! We also do have more merch coming out
for all these shows, mainly T-shirts. Finally, we are working on the finishing
touches to our first EP - "Rotten Few" currently, just wrapping up
vocals and misc. noises and whatnot we wanna toss into it. We can't say for
sure when a release date will be, but we will go on and say it will likely be
by the end of the summer, so keep an eye out for that! It's gonna be a bit of a
rollercoaster but, we have alot to say, and alot of fun we wanna have! I'd also
like to say thanks to everyone who has so far stood next to us and have gone to
all our shows and have given us nothing but support and love! From all our
Austin friends to our Tulsa friends, and people all over and certainly at
home...we thank you very much, and we look forward to seeing you all again
soon! Here’s to all you guys, cheers!